GA: Washington County elections officials keep Labes on Marietta ballot
MARIETTA — The Washington County Board of Elections ruled Friday morning that independent Marietta mayoral candidate Anne Labes may remain on the ballot.
In a 3-1 vote at a hearing continued from Wednesday, the board denied the residency challenge of Labes.
Jon Grimm, a previous independent candidate for an at-large Marietta City Council seat who has since withdrawn, claimed Labes did not live at the Front Street address listed on her filing. Testimonies made at the previous hearings that took place Aug. 11 and Wednesday focused on whether or not Labes lived at 286 Front St. and that she might actually reside at 1160 Bethel Road, outside of Marietta city limits.
“I do not believe the candidate was a resident at the address at the time of filing,” said Khadine Ritter, the election board member who voted against keeping Labes on the ballot.
“Not all of our decisions that we make are popular, but this process has reaffirmed for me the meaning of what we, the Board of Elections do,” said Board of Elections member Robin Bozian as she declared her decision on the residency challenge. “But the disrespectful manner in which the candidate acted towards those who were questioning and to the board made me very distracted from the pressing matter at hand.”
https://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/local-news/2023/09/washington-county-elections-officials-keep-labes-on-marietta-ballot/